Charlaine Harris offers fans a true Texas treat

Local fans of Charlaine Harris’ Southern vampire book series — the impetus for the smash HBO series True Blood — carry a certain civic pride that the second book was called Living Dead in Dallas and was partially set here.

The book series, which starred a psychic fairy named Sookie Stackhouse, has ended: Book 13, Dead Ever After, came out in May 2013, and True Blood will have its seventh and final season debut on June 22.

Texas fans can rejoice, though: Harris just launchedanother planned series of at least three titles, and it bears a thoroughly Lone Star pedigree. Midnight Crossroad is set in the teensy, fictional town of Midnight in West Texas.

Even better for Dallas fans:Harris will discuss and sign Midnight Crossroad on Saturday in Dallas.

The novelist, 62, was born in Mississippi but spent much of her childhood in the Edwards Plateau hamlet of Rocksprings(near Kerrville), where her mother’s family was from. Harris now lives south of Fort Worth.

With Midnight Crossroad, she introduces her first male protagonist. “I was just tired of doing the same thing,” she says by phone. “It’s important as a writer to keep trying new things. I don’t want to be stagnant, reproducing what’s essentially the same book.

“And I liked the idea of this drying-up town that happens to be a mysterious crossroads, where the oldest shop is this old pawnshop,” where, among other oddities, one character lives in the basement and is seen only at night.

The book stars Manfred Bernardo, a 20-something phone psychic who just wants to be left alone with his own secrets, and itty-bitty Midnight seems the perfect spot to hunker down. Like Sookie Stackhouse’s Bon Temps, La., though, Midnight has a full contingent of local eccentrics and a fair share of strange goings-on.

Longtime Harris fans will recognize Manfred as a character from her Harper Connelly mysteries, and pawnshop owner Bobo Winthrop appeared in her Lily Bard series. “I feel like I’m greeting people I’ve missed for a long time,” Harris says.

Sookie Stackhouse made Harris a literary superstar. In 2008, the year True Blood premiered, the book series made history by having every single one of its titles on The New York Times best-seller list. So, will Harris miss Sookie and True Blood?

“No, I don’t really feel like it’s my place to be sad or glad, it’s their thing,” she says, referring to series creator Alan Ball and HBO. She expects to remain friends with much of the cast and creative team, especially “vampire Pam,” Kristin Bauer van Straten. “She’s so much fun, and she has a great social conscience,” Harris says.

Harris remembers being shocked and amused that so many “alleged Southerners” didn’t know the name Sookie, or how to pronounce it: SUH-kie, rhymes with cookie. “My grandmother’s best friend was named Sookie,” Harris says. “It’s a fine old Southern name.” Manfred, presumably, won’t present such pronunciation tribulations.

The author says she was also stunned by the controversy generated by the final Sookie book, which surprises with, shall we say, some interesting relationship twists. A supposed fan actually posted the comment, “I curse your children” on Harris’ Facebook page.

“I love hearing what people think,” Harris says, “but that’s crossing a line that’s way, way out there.”

Harris hopes to see lots of her readers in Dallas (although perhaps not that particular Facebook correspondent), but says attendance at signings has dropped with the advent of e-books.

“It’s like people feel like they shouldn’t come if they don’t have anything for me to sign. … But lately some have had me sign their Nook covers,” or Kindles or iPads or whatever. Welcome to the digital age of literary fandom.

Plan your life

Charlaine Harris will appear at 2 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble, 7700 W. Northwest Highway, Dallas. Through 1 p.m. Saturday with a Barnes & Noble receipt for Midnight Crossroad, fans can get a ticket to assure a place in line. After 1 p.m., those with a Charlaine Harris book but without a B&N receipt can line up.

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